Lucy O'Donnell, the real-life 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,' who was a childhood friend ofJohn Lennon's son Julian, died from lupus this past week. Lucy Vodden (her name after marriage) was 46 years old and had suffered for fifteen years from lupus, the disease of the immune system that has no cure. The treacherous malady, which also took the life of hip-hop producer J-Dilla, causes the body to attack its own cells.

The story of Lucy (“the girl with kaleidoscope eyes") becoming the inspiration for The Beatles' 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album track goes back to when a four year old Lucy, who was a classmate of young Julian Lennon's at the Heath House Nursery in Weybridge, Surrey, had another classmate at the nursery paint a picture of her surrounded by stars and colorful squiggles.The story goes that Julian took this picture home and showed it to his dad, telling him, “It’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds..." And the rest is pop music history.

Recorded during the Fab Four's psychedelic period, many believed the song title to be merely a made up name created to spell out LSD -- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. The track was also used in theYellow Submarine animation movie and its accompanying record.

Lupus, which can remain undiagnosed for years or can be sometimes mistakenly identified as ME (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), is more common than many people imagine, affecting approximately one in a thousand people, with most sufferers being women between the ages of 15 and 50. To learn more about this vicious disease and what you can do to help find a cure, visit the Lupus Foundation of America website.